John J. Wilson, Acting Administrator FACT SHEET # 10 .
April 1994
PERSON OFFENSE CASES IN JUVENILE COURT
Jeffrey A. Butts, Ph.D.
Offenses Against Persons Up 40%, 1987-1991. In 1991, U.S. juvenile
courts handled an estimated 260,300 delinquency cases in which the most
serious charge was an offense against a person. This was an increase of
40% over the number of such cases handled by juvenile courts during
1987. Between 1990 and 1991 alone, the number of person offense cases
increased 9%, from 239,800 to 260,300. Person offense cases accounted
for 19% of the delinquency caseload in 1991, compared with 16% in
1987.
Cases involving offenses against persons included 2,700 cases in which
criminal homicide was the most serious charge. The vast majority of
person offense cases involved charges of aggravated or simple assault,
which accounted for 76% (196,700) of person offense cases disposed by
juvenile courts in 1991. The remainder of person offense cases had as
their most serious charges: forcible rape (4,700), other violent sex
offense (8,600), robbery (30,000), and other person offense (17,600).
The number of person offense cases disposed by juvenile courts in 1991
was equivalent to 10.0 cases for every 1,000 juveniles in the U.S. above
the age of 9 and potentially under the legal jurisdiction of a juvenile court.
This case rate increased 40% between 1987 and 1991, from 7.1 to 10.0.
In contrast, the case rate for drug offenses, decreased between 1987 and
1991, from 2.8 to 2.3 cases per 1,000.
CHARACTERISTICS OF OFFENDERS
Four out of five person offense cases in 1991 involved male juveniles.
Approximately three out of every five person offense cases (61%)
involved juveniles younger than age 16. Nearly one-quarter (24%)
involved juveniles below the age of 14. More than half (55%) of the
person offense cases handled by juvenile courts in 1991 involved white
youth, 42% involved black youth, and 3% involved youth of other races.
USE OF DETENTION
One quarter (25%) of the person offense cases disposed by juvenile courts
in 1991 involved the use of detention at some point between the initial
court referral and the final disposition of the case. In contrast, detention
was used in 20% of all delinquency cases in 1991. Only drug offense
cases were more likely than person offenses to involve the use of
detention (36%). Between 1987 and 1991, the use of detention increased
slightly for person offense cases, from 23% to 25%.
CASE PROCESSING
Of the 260,300 person offense cases referred to U.S. juvenile courts
during 1991, an estimated 143,000 (55%) were subsequently petitioned by
the court for formal handling. Of these petitioned cases, 2% were
transferred to the criminal court system where they were subject to stand
trial as adults, 54% were formally adjudicated in the juvenile court, and
44% were petitioned but not adjudicated (i.e. the charges were not
substantiated).
In 33% of the 77,500 person offense cases that were formally adjudicated
by juvenile courts in 1991, the most severe disposition used by the court
was placement out of the home in a residential facility or other treatment
agency. Probation was used in 54% of adjudicated person offense cases,
while 8% resulted in other sanctions, including referral to an outside
agency, fines, and restitution. Approximately 4% of formally adjudicated
person offense cases were later dismissed for lack of evidence or other
reasons.
In 1991, an estimated 62,300 person offense cases were formally
petitioned by the court but not adjudicated. Most of these cases (66%)
were dismissed, but in 22% the youth agreed to some form of probation
and in 11% other dispositions were used. About 1% of nonadjudicated
person offense cases resulted in voluntary out-of-home placement.
Of the 117,300 nonpetitioned person offense cases handled informally by
juvenile courts in 1991, more than half (52%) were dismissed. The
remainder resulted in informal or voluntary probation (29%) or other
dispositions (19%), while a small number (less than 1%) resulted in
out-of-home placement.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
The data presented in this fact sheet are taken from the report, Juvenile
Court Statistics 1991, and its companion software package Easy Access
to Juvenile Court Statistics 1987-1991. Both the report and the software
package were prepared by the National Center for Juvenile Justice using
data from the National Juvenile Court Data Archive. Since 1975, OJJDP
has funded the establishment and maintenance of the Archive. To obtain
Juvenile Court Statistics 1991, or other OJJDP publications that focus on
juvenile justice statistics, contact the Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse, Box
6000, Rockville, MD 20850, 800-638-8736, or 301-251-5500 in Maryland
and the Washington, DC, metropolitan area.
This fact sheet was prepared by Jeffrey A. Butts, Senior Research
Associate at the National Center for Juvenile Justice. The work was
supported by OJJDP grant # 92-JN-CX-0001. Joseph Moone, Social
Science Specialist in OJJDP's Research and Program Development
Division, served as Program Manager.
FS-9410